Firefly
by KeepHoldingOnXo
Summary: Emma reflects on her mother at the middle of the night and Troy is there to listen. ONE-SHOT


_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful_  
_ Stop me and steal my breath._  
_ And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky_  
_ Never revealing their depth._  
_ Tell me that we belong together,_  
_ Dress it up with the trappings of love._  
_ I'll be captivated,_  
_ I'll hang from your lips,_  
_ Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above._

-Edwin McCain: "I'll Be"

**Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.**

* * *

The stars above twinkled with enthusiasm, and the moon was a guiding light to those that walked in its path. The crickets were doing their nightly call, as well as the owls that sat in the trees with their wide eyes piercing those that dared to look at them.

Troy Burrows had no time to adjust to these setting as he ran at an abnormal pace into the dark woods that led to the unknown. His breath was heavy and he could feel his heart in his throat and his stomach twisting and turning with fear.

He was originally only supposed to be doing his nightly run in order to burn off all of the adrenaline and anxiety he felt after a long, hard day of school and fighting off evil aliens, but then he got a call from none other than his pink counterpart saying that it was "urgent." He sped up even more as he thought about this.

Reaching the clearing and seeing the tree ahead with Harwood County dancing in the background, Troy slowed his pace and looked around at the spot.

_Where is she? _he thought.

"Emma?" he called out into a whisper, which only sounded ridiculous because there was no one else around to hear him. "Emma!" he shouted.

Sudden laughter broke out from around him: playful, silly, laughter. "I thought you wouldn't come," a familiar voice called out.

Troy immediately looked behind him, but didn't see anyone. "Emma? Where are you?" he asked.

Her beautiful laugh came again. "Look up."

Troy did as instructed and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Emma Goodall perched on top of a tree branch. Her back was against the trunk with one knee raised up with her hands clasped around it, and the other one dangling from the branch.

"I thought you were in trouble. You said it was urgent," he said with the slightest bit of anger.

Emma poked out her bottom lip, and Troy felt his anger quickly diminish. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I guess I really didn't think that part through."

"And why is it that you only called me here? What about the others?" Troy questioned from below.

She ran her fingers through her hair. "I usually come here at night before I go to sleep, and I heard you talking to Jake earlier about how you usually go on nightly runs in the woods, so I just took the chance at calling you to see if you really were out here," she explained.

Everything was quiet for a moment as Troy thought about this. The pink ranger's actions confused him, and he was only just now understanding some of those actions. She continued to surprise him with everything she did.

"Look," she sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your run or worry you. I just thought...Actually, I don't even know what I was thinking." She looked away from him with embarrassment written all over her face.

Troy watched her flushed face from down below and then smiled softly. "It's okay," he decided. Then he walked up to the tree and began to scale it. Emma's eyes widened in shock as she watched. She was sure that Troy would leave and just forget that this ever happened, but he did the complete opposite. She shook her head out of the thought she was in and shifted her body so that both of her feet were dangling from the tree branch. After scooting over a bit, she lent out a hand to Troy to help him on his last little bit of the climb. He gladly took it, and Emma felt a sudden spark that came through her arm, and rushed throughout her entire body until to the end of her toes. She wondered if he felt it too.

When Troy finally settled himself on the branch, they both sat in silence.

"Hi," Emma said, rather lamely.

Troy grinned back at her. "Hi," he replied. There was another second of silence until Troy asked, "Why do you come here at night?"

Emma sighed. "I just like to come out here and think. Plus, everything looks so small from up here, yet beautiful at the same time." She nudged her head forward at the city from down below and Troy looked as well. Indeed it was beautiful. The lights from the buildings brightening up just about everything, along with the moon and stars glowing in the background, and the airplanes flying across the sky almost as if they belonged there.

"Wow," Troy breathed.

Emma let out a small laugh, "I know, breathtaking isn't it? My mom and I used to come out here all the time at night and..." she trailed off when she caught herself on what she was about to say. Troy looked at her again, but this time with concern in his eyes. Emma looked away and began to pick at the leaves on the tree. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Emma let out a small gasp when she felt his hand in hers for the second time. She stared back into his eyes.

"Don't be sorry," he said. "It's okay to talk about her. You don't have to be afraid."

Emma gave him a smile and squeezed his hand, "Thanks, Troy."

Both of them were unwilling to let go of the others hand, so they stayed like that. Emma sealed the deal by lacing their fingers together. Troy felt a tightening in his chest at the subtle movement.

"Tell me about what you and your mom did. I mean, if you want," he added the last part in a rush.

Emma closed her eyes and smiled. This was obviously something that she thought about on a day-to-day basis. Something that she never really brought up to anyone. "I remember we'd come out here in the middle of the night and have a competition over who could catch the most fireflies," she started. Troy listened closely. "Then after counting up the total to see which one of us won, we'd climb this tree and let them go, and..." she paused, and Troy could tell that Emma wasn't there anymore; she was in that moment with her mother, catching fireflies and letting them go. "It was a beautiful sight, " she continued on. "Some of them would fly high, the others would go back to where they were before we caught them, but the light that came from them brightened up everything. Including her smile." Then Emma opened her eyes and stared back into Troy's.

"Then she would sing to me about anything. Whether it was about the earth, her hope, her dreams for me...or the dreams she still had for herself." She fought the stinging tears as they threatened to fall from her eyes. Troy squeezed her hand.

"And then I'd fall asleep in her arms and she carried me home," her voice broke. "It's funny because after all those times of letting go of those fireflies from this spot, I never thought that one day I'd have to let _her _go from here as well." She began to sob and Troy took that moment wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her close into his chest. Emma shook and cried even more when she felt his embrace. "Before...she died," she managed to get out through her sobs, "she told me to take her ashes here and let them go from this tree."

Troy didn't know what to say. That was one of the most beautiful yet saddest stories he had ever heard, and it killed him to know that the girl next to him, wrapped in his arms, had to go through that.

"I know that she was probably an amazing mother," he finally said.

"She was," Emma sniffed.

"Her daughter is just as amazing."

Emma then shook her head in disagreement, "No. She was way more special, and loving, and beautiful, and–" suddenly Emma was cut off by the gentle feel of Troy's lips rubbing up against hers. Her eyes widened for a moment, but slowly closed and she found herself kissing him back. It was a short, but chaste kiss, and then they both pulled away from each other, but still close enough so that their foreheads were still connected, with Troy's hands on either side of her face.

"You're beautiful," Troy spoke. "And you have a heart so full of love that I don't think anyone could ever beat it," he wiped away a couple of more tears that fell silently on to her cheeks. "And you have _no idea_ how special you are," he emphasized.

Emma smiled and grasped on to one of the hands that was still placed on the side of her face. "I think she'd like you."

Troy laughed, "I hope she would."

Emma bit her lip and her cheeks turned scarlet red under Troy's palms as she whispered, "I like you."

Troy felt like his stomach was on fire from that one statement and he looked at her with even more intensity. "I like you, too," he replied.

With that, they stayed perched on top of the tree for another hour and talked about everything that could have possibly came up in their minds. They watched for shooting stars and counted how many planes flew by, and shared a kiss or two that they would lose themselves into.

Neither of them noticed the firefly that emerged from the grass.

**A/N: I originally wasn't going to write in a kiss scene, but WHOOPS, my hand slipped.**

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